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Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna)
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1553, the Akademisches Gymnasium is the oldest secondary school in Vienna
. The school offers a humanistic education and is known to be rather liberal compared to other traditional secondary schools in the city.
Currently, there are approximately 600 pupils in 25 classes.
to decide about the founding of educational institutions. In March 1553, the Jesuits were granted permission to found the Akademisches Gymnasium.
The main educational objectives of the exclusively Jesuit teachers was to instill knowledge and the practice of Catholicism in the pupils. At the time, the Akademisches Gymnasium was located opposite the university (today the Academy of Sciences) on the premises of today's Dominican monastery. Pupils were taught in Latin.
It became more profane and the spirit of the Enlightenment
was felt among teachers as well as pupils. New didactical and paedagogical methods were introduced, as were tuition fees.
As a result of the reform of secondary schools in 1849 the school was restructured to its present curriculum of 8 years ending with the Matura final exam. The humanistic aspects became more and more pronounced as education focused on languages, history, mathematics and the natural sciences. The first Matura exam was held in 1851.
In 1866 the school moved to its present building at Beethovenplatz in the 1st district of Vienna. It was built by Friedrich von Schmidt
, the architect who also designed the Vienna townhall, in his typical neo-gothic style.
.
After World War II, the Akademisches Gymnasium regained its old reputation. Known as one of the most demanding schools in Austria, it offers a general, humanistic education with a special focus on classical and modern languages preparing its pupils for further academic studies. Several of its teachers also teach at the University of Vienna. State-run, the school is free of charge and admission by merit. As there is no nation-wide examination even for the Matura
in Austria, the school examines its own pupils and marks reflect the school's internal standards. The Akademisches Gymnasium has been performing Greek theatre on a semi-professional level, but is also known for excellent musical performances. Lately, the school's choir has won several competitions.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The school offers a humanistic education and is known to be rather liberal compared to other traditional secondary schools in the city.
Currently, there are approximately 600 pupils in 25 classes.
16th-18th century
In the 16th century, it was the privilege of the University of ViennaUniversity of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
to decide about the founding of educational institutions. In March 1553, the Jesuits were granted permission to found the Akademisches Gymnasium.
The main educational objectives of the exclusively Jesuit teachers was to instill knowledge and the practice of Catholicism in the pupils. At the time, the Akademisches Gymnasium was located opposite the university (today the Academy of Sciences) on the premises of today's Dominican monastery. Pupils were taught in Latin.
18th-20th century
In 1773 Pope Clement XIV dissolved the Jesuit order so that both the teaching staff and the educational objectives of the Akademisches Gymnasium changed. The new focus was on History, Mathematics, German, Literature and Geography. The school was now run by the Piarist order.It became more profane and the spirit of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
was felt among teachers as well as pupils. New didactical and paedagogical methods were introduced, as were tuition fees.
As a result of the reform of secondary schools in 1849 the school was restructured to its present curriculum of 8 years ending with the Matura final exam. The humanistic aspects became more and more pronounced as education focused on languages, history, mathematics and the natural sciences. The first Matura exam was held in 1851.
In 1866 the school moved to its present building at Beethovenplatz in the 1st district of Vienna. It was built by Friedrich von Schmidt
Friedrich von Schmidt
Friedrich von Schmidt was an architect who worked in late 19th century Vienna....
, the architect who also designed the Vienna townhall, in his typical neo-gothic style.
After the World Wars
The period after World War I was very difficult for the Akademisches Gymnasium and it narrowly escaped closure because of a rapid decrease in the number of pupils. This development was temporarily reversed but in 1938 the school's fate was again in peril: with the Nazis coming to power in Austria, all the Jewish pupils had to leave the school thereby reducing the school's studentship by 40 percent. One of the most famous victims of these measures was Nobel laureate Walter KohnWalter Kohn
Walter Kohn is an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist.He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials...
.
After World War II, the Akademisches Gymnasium regained its old reputation. Known as one of the most demanding schools in Austria, it offers a general, humanistic education with a special focus on classical and modern languages preparing its pupils for further academic studies. Several of its teachers also teach at the University of Vienna. State-run, the school is free of charge and admission by merit. As there is no nation-wide examination even for the Matura
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
in Austria, the school examines its own pupils and marks reflect the school's internal standards. The Akademisches Gymnasium has been performing Greek theatre on a semi-professional level, but is also known for excellent musical performances. Lately, the school's choir has won several competitions.
Prominent graduates of the Akademisches Gymnasium
- Kurt AdlerKurt AdlerKurt Adler was an Austrian classical music conductor, chorus master and pianist with a European musical education. He was best known as the chorus master and conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1943 to 1973...
, Chorus Master and Conductor (1943-1973) of the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
New York City, New York (United States) - Ludwig Adamovich, President of the Austrian Constitutional Court
- Peter AltenbergPeter AltenbergPeter Altenberg was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He was key to the genesis of early modernism in the city.-Biography:...
, "Kaffeehaus writer" - Richard Beer-HofmannRichard Beer-HofmannRichard Beer-Hofmann was an Austrian dramatist and poet.After the early death of his mother, Beer-Hofmann was raised by his aunt's family in Brno and Vienna. In the 1880s he studied law in Vienna, receiving his doctorate in 1890...
, writer - Ignaz Franz CastelliIgnaz Franz CastelliIgnaz Franz Castelli was an Austrian dramatist born in Vienna. He studied law at the university, and then entered the government service....
, writer - Paul EdwardsPaul Edwards (philosopher)Paul Edwards, born Paul Eisenstein, was an Austrian American moral philosopher.-Life and career:Edwards was born in Vienna in 1923 to assimilated Jewish parents, the youngest of three brothers....
, philosopher - Paul EhrenfestPaul EhrenfestPaul Ehrenfest was an Austrian and Dutch physicist, who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem.- Biography :Paul Ehrenfest was born and grew up in Vienna in a Jewish...
, physicist and mathematician - Caspar EinemCaspar EinemCaspar Einem is a former Austrian Austrian politician and former minister . He currently serves as board member of Jetalliance.-Biography:...
, former federal minister for internal affairs and for transport - Paul Chaim Eisenberg, chief rabbi of Vienna
- Paul Gulda, pianist
- Friedrich HeerFriedrich HeerFriedrich Heer was a historian born in Vienna. He received a PhD at the University in Vienna in 1938. Even as a student he came into conflict with pan-German thinking historians as a staunch opponent of National Socialism....
, writer, historian - Hugo von HofmannsthalHugo von HofmannsthalHugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
, playwright - Hans Kelsen, constitutional lawyer, author of the Austrian Constitution
- Walter KohnWalter KohnWalter Kohn is an Austrian-born American theoretical physicist.He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to the understandings of the electronic properties of materials...
, physicist, Nobel laureate for chemistry in 1998 - Markus KupferblumMarkus KupferblumMarkus Kupferblum is an Austrian theatre and opera director, author and clown. Having founded the opera company "Totales Theater" in Vienna, he is an expert in Commedia dell'arte and mask theatre....
, theatre and opera director - Titu MaiorescuTitu MaiorescuTitu Liviu Maiorescu was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the Junimea Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of the 19th century....
, former Prime Minister of Roumania - Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, founder and president of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
- Alexius MeinongAlexius MeinongAlexius Meinong was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology...
, philosopher - Lise MeitnerLise MeitnerLise Meitner FRS was an Austrian-born, later Swedish, physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. Meitner was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission, an achievement for which her colleague Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize...
, physicist - Ludwig von MisesLudwig von MisesLudwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...
, economist - Richard von Mises, mathematician, early member of the Vienna CircleVienna CircleThe Vienna Circle was an association of philosophers gathered around the University of Vienna in 1922, chaired by Moritz Schlick, also known as the Ernst Mach Society in honour of Ernst Mach...
- Johann NestroyJohann NestroyJohann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...
, actor, playwright, poet - Doron RabinoviciDoron RabinoviciDoron Rabinovici is an Israeli-Austrian writer, historian and essayist. He was born in Tel Aviv in 1961 and moved to Vienna in 1964.-Overview:...
, writer - Erwin RingelErwin RingelErwin Ringel was an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist who dedicated his life to suicide prevention and who, in 1960, defined the presuicidal syndrome....
, physician, psychologist - Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
, playwright, physician - Erwin SchrödingerErwin SchrödingerErwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
, physicist, Nobel laureate for physics in 1933 - Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, composer
Literature
- Festschrift zum 450. Jubiläum der Schulgründung, Akademisches Gymnasium Wien
- Year books